1. Field of the Invention.
The present invention relates generally to pipe and hose couplings, and in particular to a polygonal, flexible metal hose coupling assembly.
2. Description of the Prior Art.
Various types of hoses and pipes are used for conveying fluids and bulk materials in a wide variety of applications. Many installations require coupling a pair of pipes. In many cases it is desirable to provide a measure of isolation between the connected pipes. For example, in vehicle exhaust systems such isolation is sometimes necessary to absorb vibration and allow relative movement between a pair of exhaust system components.
Spiral-wound, flexible metal hose is often utilized for this purpose. Such hose tends to be relatively leak-resistant and have sufficient flexibility to accommodate relative movement between a pair of pipes which have been connected.
A problem with previous spiral-wound flexible metal hose couplings relates to the tendency of the couplings to expand and contract under thermal and vibration loads. For example, the interlocked seams of the metal strip tend to allow a certain amount of slippage. Such slippage can result in the flexible hose coupling body loosing its flexibility and thus becoming susceptible to breakage as a result of operating stresses. To resist strip slippage along the edge seams, polygonal hose sections have been fabricated with the multi-sided, polygonal configurations thereof resisting such slippage. However, heretofore there has not been available a clamp for effectively connecting such polygonal hose to standard round pipe sections with the advantages and features of the present invention.